How to Make a Thanksgiving Turducken

Ah, turducken. The fondest of all portmanteau words and the tastiest of all Thanksgiving day meals. Turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken—three glorious poultry meats molded into one marvelous, boneless hunk of flesh that any sane carnivore wouldn't dare resist. It's slapped together with pork sausage stuffing, sometimes even three different kinds, and caked with Cajun seasonings.

Baking a turducken is a tough chore, one that takes absolute determination. There's a lot of deboning to be done and stuffing to make, and it takes quite a while to cook. If you're up to the task, check out the recipes below for the avian triple-threat of Thanksgiving. I'll start you off with the simple versions, then work up to the killers.

Recipe #1: The Bacon Pig (Super Easy)

If you enjoy pork more than poultry, the "bacon pig" is the turducken alternative for you. It's bacon stuffed with ground pork stuffed with a pork hot dog. Pure awesomeness. Plus, it's even easier to make than any of the other turducken dishes. Just slap it all together, throw in a few veggies and bake for no more than an hour. And if you consider yourself an artist, you can even shape it into a pig for the full effect.

For the recipe, visit the WAREHOUSE.

Recipe #2: The Turducken Meatloaf (Easy)

It's definitely cheating, but if you've got a small kitchen and a small family to feed, this is your best choice for enjoying three moist birds in one. There is no deboning required. Just grab some boneless turkey, duck and chicken breasts from the grocery store and you're halfway there. For thinner cuts of meat, see if you can find duck and turkey scaloppine. Throw some seasoning and meat glue on it, slap it in a casserole dish and cook into perfection.

For the recipe, check out Momofukufor2.

Recipe #3: The Turducken Roulade (Medium)

The aforementioned turducken meatloaf recipe is great, but lacks the elegance that rolled meat provides. For those looking for a bit more style, try a turducken roulade. Just like the meatloaf, grab some boneless turkey, duck and chicken from your local grocer and you're halfway there. But for this one, you'll need some stuffing to go in between the meats, instead of meat glue.

The rolling of the meat is the difficult part here. If you're an amateur in the kitchen, you might find your roll falling apart after cooking, so make sure it's nice and tight.

For the recipe, visit Serious Eats. For another roulade that adds sausage links to the mix, check out Feast Magazine.

Recipe #4: The Turducken (Difficult)

The original turducken is a pain to make, but it tastes like heaven. I won't even try to describe the process of preparing this beast of a meal, so if you want the full rundown, the Homebrew Chef has a great recipe to try out.

You'll also get some clever insights into the proper deboning and carving of the birds.

Just be prepared. You'll need to painstakingly plan out everything and save a whole day for the process. But if you're successful, you may never go back to the traditional Thanksgiving bird.

Photos by AdamSelwood, nsuhor